Commissioner Craig Curry told residents Tuesday that the county has already reached population levels once projected for 2030 and that a total moratorium would recreate Great Recession job losses instead of catching roads up.
Marion County approved a 12-month moratorium on large commercial data centers of 50 megawatts or more after a 4-1 vote over smaller-plant exemptions
Businessman Clay Albright told the Ocala City Council that an “embedded cancerous culture” in code enforcement has frightened business owners and that some fear retribution, while Councilman Jim Hilty voted ‘no’ on Lee’s contract and other members said the division needs fixing but Lee should stay.
The Ocala City Council approved a 6.6177 millage rate, an $18.2 million fire assessment, and raises for City Manager Peter Lee, City Attorney William Sexton, and Police Chief Michael Balken.
Existing shops are grandfathered, though one speaker said some convenience stores “carry just products of hedonism” and should not get the same exemption.
Internal City Auditor Vincent Lovino found that a skipped EFT verification let a scammer take a city vendor payment, that a former manager’s misleading statements delayed the official response, and that insurance cut the city’s loss to $27,799.81.
Commissioners voted 5-0 to raise the countywide rate to 4.28 mills and set a $1.73 billion tentative budget, with final action set for Sept. 24.
The ordinance names e-cigarettes, kratom and kratom products, allowing existing shops to remain while barring new ones from opening within 1,500 feet of a school, daycare, church or park.
Two years after Lindsey Ardmore found a lump in Italy and waited months for a mammogram, her Oct. 15 Black Out Gala aims to pay for the screenings local imaging centers still will not give young women.
Mike Mills and Brigitte Smith will face voters on November 3, 2026 in the Marion County School Board District 4 runoff, with reading scores, discipline and school safety at the center of the race.